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The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex/Oedipus at Colonus/Antigone

Page 32

by Sophocles


  the goddesses who see everything.

  Other places might give them harsher names. 50

  OEDIPUS

  Then let them be kind to this suppliant!

  I’ll never leave this sacred ground.

  STRANGER

  Why do you say that?

  OEDIPUS

  It all fits: here is where I meet my fate.

  STRANGER

  Well, then, I won’t presume to drive you out.

  Not till I get permission from the city.

  STRANGER starts to leave.

  OEDIPUS

  For god’s sake, man! Don’t scorn me because I

  look like a tramp. I need to know something.

  STRANGER

  Then say what you need. I won’t hold back.

  OEDIPUS

  This place we’ve entered—what do they call it? 60

  STRANGER

  I’ll say only what I know personally.

  This entire grove is holy and belongs

  to grim Poseidon. Prometheus the firegod

  also has a shrine here. That rock ledge

  you’re on is our country’s brass-footed threshold.

  It anchors Athens. The horseman over there—

  —STRANGER gestures toward an equestrian statue—

  is Kolonos, who settled the farmland

  hereabouts. We’ve all taken his name. That’s

  the story, stranger. Kolonos isn’t

  so much a legend as a presence we feel. 70

  OEDIPUS

  Then people do live around here?

  STRANGER

  Of course! They’re named after that hero there.

  STRANGER nods toward the statue of Kolonos.

  OEDIPUS

  You have a king? Or do the people rule?

  STRANGER

  We have a king who governs from Athens.

  OEDIPUS

  Whose eloquence and strength brought him to power?

  STRANGER

  Theseus. Old King Aigeus’ son.

  OEDIPUS

  I wonder . . . could someone from here go find him?

  STRANGER

  To take a message? Bring him back? What for?

  OEDIPUS

  So he may be hugely repaid for a small kindness.

  STRANGER

  Tell me, how can a blind man be of use? 80

  OEDIPUS

  My words, every one of them, can see.

  STRANGER

  Look, friend, don’t do anything reckless.

  Your bearing tells me you’re from noble stock,

  but it’s clear you’re down on your luck.

  Stay put, right where I found you, while I go

  let the men in town know what’s happened.

  Never mind Athens—we will decide

  whether you stay here or move on.

  Exit STRANGER.

  OEDIPUS

  Has the stranger left, child?

  ANTIGONE

  He’s gone, Father. You can speak freely. 90

  It’s quiet now. I’m the only one here.

  OEDIPUS assumes a posture of prayer.

  OEDIPUS

  Ladies whose eyes we dread, since your grove

  is the first in this land where I’ve come to pray,

  don’t be unkind

  either to me or to Apollo.

  When the god condemned me to such grief,

  he assured me my long life would end here—

  that I’d find a haven, and be taken in

  by vengeful goddesses, to be a source

  of strength to those who welcomed me, and a curse 100

  to those who drove me out. The god promised

  he’d show a sign—an earthquake, some thunder,

  or lightning flamed from Zeus’ own hand.

  It must have been, Ladies, a trustworthy

  omen from you that led me to this place.

  Why else would you be the first deities

  I’ve met on my travels? I—a sober man—

  find my way to you, who spurn wine. What else

  could have brought me to this rough stone bench?

  Please, Goddesses, do as Apollo bids: 110

  grant me a clear path to my life’s end—unless

  I seem in some way beneath your concern,

  profaned as I am by the worst evils

  a man may endure. Respond to me,

  delightful daughters of primeval darkness!

  And help me Athens, most

  honored city in Greece,

  homeland of Pallas Athena! Pity

  this feeble ghost of the man Oedipus.

  My body hasn’t always looked like this. 120

  ANTIGONE

  Shhh, be quiet now. Some old men—they look

  ancient!—have come searching for you.

  OEDIPUS

  I’ll be quiet. Get me to the trees,

  off the road, so I can hear what they say.

  What we learn will help us

  decide our best course of action.

  ANTIGONE guides OEDIPUS up the slope and into the grove. Chorus of OLD MEN enters. Gracefully, they probe along the grove’s edge in a coordinated dancing movement while singing their entry song.

  OLD MEN

  Look for him,

  though we don’t know

  who he is, or where

  he’s hiding now. 130

  He’s bolted for cover,

  totally brazen!

  Search the whole grove.

  Look sharp, look everywhere.

  The old fellow’s

  a foreigner, an intruder.

  No native would invade

  prohibited grounds

  of virgins so violent,

  so uncontrollable— 140

  their very names

  we fear to say out loud.

  We walk in their midst,

  eyes lowered, not breathing

  a word, though our lips

  mouth silent prayers.

  LEADER

  We’ve heard the report:

  Someone with no respect

  for the goddesses has arrived.

  But looking across the sacred glen 150

  I don’t see him or his hiding place.

  OEDIPUS steps forward from the foliage.

  OEDIPUS

  I’m here. The man you’re looking for. I see

  with my ears, as people say of the blind.

  LEADER

  Aggghh! Aggghh!

  The sight of you, the sound of your voice, appalls us.

  OEDIPUS

  Don’t look at me as though I’m some outlaw.

  LEADER

  Spare us, Zeus! Who is this haughty old man?

  OEDIPUS

  Not someone whose life you might envy—

  you men charged with guarding your country!

  Isn’t that obvious? Why else 160

  would I walk as I do, dependent

  on other people’s eyes, and tethered,

  large as I am, to this frail creature?

  LEADER

  Ah! Then you were born blind?

  You must have led a long,

  bleak life. Take our advice:

  Don’t add one more curse

  to your miseries. You’ve gone

  too far! Please step back!

  Don’t go stumbling 170

  through that green glade

  where speech is forbidden,

  where we pour

  clear water from a bowl,

  blending it

  with honey-sweet libations.

  Watch yourself,

  stranger with such

  horrendous luck—

  stand back, walk away! 180

  Move further back!

  Do you hear me? If you

  have something to tell us,

  get off that sacred ground!

  Speak only

  where talk is allowed.

  Until then, keep quiet.

  OEDIPUS

>   Daughter, what should we do?

  ANTIGONE

  (conferring quietly with OEDIPUS)

  Respect their customs, Father.

  Do as they ask. Be deferential. 190

  OEDIPUS

  Give me your hand, then.

  ANTIGONE

  Here, feel mine.

  OEDIPUS, with ANTIGONE supporting him, very cautiously approaches the OLD MEN.

  OEDIPUS

  I’m going to trust you, strangers. Don’t

  betray me when I leave this holy ground.

  LEADER

  Nobody will force you to leave

  this resting place against your will.

  OEDIPUS pauses in his progress.

  OEDIPUS

  Further?

  LEADER

  Keep going.

  OEDIPUS

  More?

  LEADER

  Keep him moving, girl, you can see the path.

  ANTIGONE

  Come on, Father. 200

  Keep stepping

  into the dark

  as I lead you.

  LEADER

  You are, old man, a stranger

  in a strange land.

  Accustom yourself

  to hating what our city

  despises and revering

  what it loves.

  OEDIPUS

  Guide me, child, to some spot 210

  where I can speak and listen

  without offending the gods.

  Let’s not fight the inevitable.

  LEADER

  Stop right there. Don’t move

  beyond that rock ledge.

  OEDIPUS

  Stop here?

  LEADER

  That’s far enough, I’m telling you!

  OEDIPUS

  May I sit down?

  LEADER

  Yes. Edge sideways and squat down on that rock.

  ANTIGONE holds OEDIPUS and guides his steps.

  ANTIGONE

  Father, let me do this. Take one 220

  easy step after another . . .

  OEDIPUS

  Oh, my.

  ANTIGONE

  . . . leaning your tired body

  on my loving arm.

  OEDIPUS

  I’m sorry for my weakness.

  ANTIGONE sits him on the rock ledge downstage.

  LEADER

  Poor fellow, now that you’re at ease,

  tell us who you are in the world.

  Who would want to be moved about

  in such excruciating pain?

  Tell us where you live.

  OEDIPUS

  Strangers, I have no home! But please don’t . . . 230

  LEADER

  What don’t you want us to ask, old man?

  OEDIPUS

  Don’t! Just don’t ask who I am.

  No questions, no more probing.

  LEADER

  Is there a reason?

  OEDIPUS

  The horror I was born to.

  LEADER

  Go on.

  OEDIPUS

  (whispering)

  Child, what should I tell them?

  LEADER

  Speak up, stranger: tell us

  your bloodlines. Start with your father.

  OEDIPUS

  What’s going to happen to me, child?

  ANTIGONE

  You’ve been pushed to the brink. Better tell them.

  OEDIPUS

  All right, I’ll say it. There’s no way to hide it. 240

  LEADER

  You both take too much time. Go on, speak.

  OEDIPUS

  You’ve heard of Laios’ son . . .

  OLD MEN

  Aaaaah!

  OEDIPUS

  . . . and the house of Labdakos . . .

  OLD MEN

  O Zeus!

  OEDIPUS

  . . . and doomed Oedipus?

  LEADER

  That’s who you are?

  OEDIPUS

  Don’t fear my words . . .

  OLD MEN

  Aaagghhh! Aaagghhh!

  As their cries of apprehension overwhelm OEDIPUS’ previous words, the OLD MEN en bloc turn away from him.

  OEDIPUS

  . . . because I am a broken man.

  OLD MEN

  Aaagghhh! Aaagghhh!

  OEDIPUS

  What’s going to happen, child?

  LEADER

  Get out of here! Leave our country! 250

  OEDIPUS

  And the promise you made me?

  How do you plan to honor that?

  LEADER

  When someone who’s been wronged

  defends himself by striking back,

  Fate doesn’t punish him. And when

  deception is used to counter

  deceit, it should cause pain, not gratitude.

  Stand up! Now! Get off that seat! Leave this land

  as fast as you can walk, so you won’t burden

  our city with your deadly contagion. 260

  ANTIGONE

  Strangers, so full of holy sentiments!

  You can’t abide my agèd father’s presence,

  can you? Because you’ve heard the rumors

  about those actions he took in ignorance.

  Think how unhappy it makes me

  to plead with you on my father’s behalf.

  Strangers, I am looking at you with eyes

  that aren’t blind, and I beg you to see me

  as though I were your family—and to feel

  responsible for this afflicted person. 270

  Our miserable lives depend on you

  as if you all were gods. Give us the help

  that we’ve stopped hoping for!

  I’m begging you, in the name

  of whatever you hold dear—

  whether it’s your child or your wife,

  your fortune or your god!

  However hard

  you look, you’ll never find a man who can

  escape his own fate-driven actions.

  LEADER

  We pity both of you, daughter— 280

  you and your father, Oedipus.

  You’ve led unfortunate lives.

  But we fear the gods, we fear their anger,

  if we say more than we’ve already said.

  OEDIPUS

  What good are fame and glory, if they just

  trickle away and accomplish nothing?

  Men call Athens the most god-fearing city,

  a safe haven for persecuted strangers,

  their best hope when they need a helping hand.

  But how do these virtues benefit me 290

  when you force me to climb down these ledges

  and depart from your country? Does my name

  frighten you? My appearance? Or my past deeds?

  I performed every one of those actions,

  you should know, but I willed none. You want me

  to speak of my relations with my father

  and mother—is that the source of your fear?

  I have no doubt it is exactly that.

  Yet, tell me: how is my nature evil—

  if all I did was to return a blow? 300

  How could I have been guilty, even if

  I’d known where my actions would take me

  while I was living them? But those who tried

  to murder me—they knew what they were doing.

  My friends, the gods inspired you to drive

  me off that ledge. So respect these same gods—

  and grant me the refuge that you’ve offered.

  Don’t act now as though gods don’t exist.

  They protect those who fear them,

  but they also destroy those who don’t. 310

  And no godless mortal ever escapes.

  Let the gods show you the way: don’t blacken

  Athens’ reputation by taking part

  in crimes of irreverence! I am

  a suppliant to who
m you promised

  safety. Don’t break that promise. And don’t

  shun me because of my disfigured face.

  I’ve come here a devout and sacred man,

  and I’ll prove myself useful to your people.

  When the man who holds power arrives, 320

  whoever that may be, I will tell him

  everything. Until then, do me no harm.

  LEADER

  We’re impressed by the way you think, old man.

  How could we not be? You speak with force.

  We don’t take you lightly, but we’d prefer

  to have our rulers deal with this problem.

  OEDIPUS

  Where then, my friends, is this leader of yours?

  LEADER

  He’s now in Athens, his home city. The same

  person who sent us went on to find him.

  OEDIPUS

  Do you think he’ll have sufficient 330

  concern and regard for a blind old man

  to travel all the way out here himself?

  LEADER

  He will come as soon as he hears your name.

  OEDIPUS

  And how will he hear my name?

  LEADER

  It’s a long road,

  but it’s busy with foot traffic. News spreads

  quickly. Don’t worry. He’ll recognize your name,

  then come immediately to this place.

  Your story’s widely known, old man. Even

  if he’s asleep and wakes slowly,

  word you’re here will bring him in a hurry. 340

  OEDIPUS

  His coming will help Athens, and help me.

  A good man is always his own best friend.

  ANTIGONE looks offstage, brightens, and then calls out loudly.

  ANTIGONE

  O Zeus! What do I say now, Father? Or even think?

  OEDIPUS

  What do you see, Antigone?

  ANTIGONE

  (raising her voice)

  A woman riding

  a young Sicilian horse. Wearing a hat

  from Thessaly to keep sun off her face.

  What can I say? Is she, or isn’t she?

  Am I hallucinating? Yes? No?

  I can’t tell yet. Yes! YES!

  There’s no one else it could be. 350

  As she comes closer, I can see her

  smiling at me. It’s my sister, Ismene!

  OEDIPUS

  What’s that you’re shouting, girl?

 

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